for years i became director of the cia. it was obvious somalia was a failed state, a failed state where the militant group al- shabaab controlled large pieces of territory, declared fealty to out-, brought about by humanitarian crisis and planned to -- declared fealty to al qaeda, and brought about humanitarian crisis. now there, too, we have seen progress in large part because of the african union mission in somalia. the result is al-shabaab that has lost more than 50% of the territory it held in 2010. since losing control of mogadishu in august of 2011, hundreds of al-shabaab fighters have surrendered to forces. these forces recently took a stronghold and a number of strategic accounts -- towns. as a result, al-shabaab has diminished as a threat, and we continue to work every day to consolidate these gains to the terrorists. still, our challenge is far from over. yes, we have decimated of high- tech, -- estimated al qaeda -- dessimated al qaeda. yes, we have reduced the chance of a large-scale terrorist attack, but al qae